Penguins 2 – Capitals 0: The Champs are Moving On

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Penguins 2 – Capitals 0

The Pittsburgh Penguins on goals from Bryan Rust and Patric Hornqvist, knocked out the President Trophy winners for the second straight season with a 2-0 win in Game 7.

Washington’s momentum from Games 5 and 6 did not carry over into Game 7 and the Penguins showed tonight why they’re the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

From Marc Andre Fleury between the pipes, to skaters 1-18, it was a vintage Penguin performance in everyone doing what it took to deliver a win.

The Penguins withstood an early surge as the Capitals had four shots in the first 2:18, only to hold the Capitals without a shot for the next 13 minutes in period one.

The Penguins started to get to their game and would then be the one’s to rise to the occasion from there.

Mr. Elimination Game Bryan Rust put the Penguins up 1-0 at 8:49 of the second period and Pittsburgh got Washington in another situation of chasing the game.

Most impressive with the Penguins was the killer instinct in period three.

They pounced on the Capitals with a 7-1 shot advantage to open the period and Patric Hornqvist scored a huge goal 4:14 into the period to put the Penguins ahead 2-0. Leading to the goal was Alex Ovechkin unable to clear the zone on a pinch from Justin Schultz.

And boy did the Capitals go out with a whimper in the final period.

With a 2-0 lead, it was game over as the Penguins made the Capitals into a dump and chase team and Washington was rarely a threat in the final period as Marc Andre Fleury was spectacular on the night for the shutout with a 29 save performance.

The Penguins get to continue to chase their fifth Stanley Cup, while the Washington Capitals now get to ponder about another ‘What IF’ Season.

Trade Buzz: Thursday’s 1-for-1 trade of young underperforming players saw the Minnesota Wild acquire center Victor Rask from the Carolina Hurricanes for left winger Nino Niederreiter. Carolina did an excellent job of being able to get out of the Rask contract, who has three years remaining with a $4 million cap hit. Rask has 1 goal, 5 assists on the season, mirrored in a 22-game goal drought. The logic here for Minnesota is taking the chance on a playmaking center who can help fill a top-9 spot longer term if the Wild move on from Eric Staal. Minnesota is also playing the card that a change of scenery will benefit the 24-year old who posted a career-high 21 goals, 48 points in 2015-2016.

Niederreiter’s trade value was stunted because of his contract, where he has three years left on his deal with a $5.25 million cap hit. Niederreiter is a player who is extremely hard to play against, drives possession well, and has three 20 goal seasons over his last four full seasons. Injuries (18 goals in 63 games) kept him from a 4th straight 20-goal season in 17-18. The Niederreiter acquisition also sets up as great insurance for the Hurricanes if they can’t resign Micheal Ferland. In the short-term, Carolina’s center situation is a mess with Jordan Staal sidelined with a concussion, but they’re getting the better player who fits the identity they’re trying to establish upfront, especially on the wings where they’ve identified the need for Patric Hornqvist type players.